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Sitting it out: Capello, left, and the England squad are grim-faced at the announcement of the cancellation of the match with Holland because of civil unrestGraham Hughes for The Times

Oliver KayFootball Correspondent

Last updated at 9:56PM, August 9 2011

The chauffeurs were summoned earlier than expected to the five-star hotel, set
in 300 acres of Hertfordshire countryside. They were called to take the
young multimillionaire back to their mansions in desirable villages such as
Alderley Edge and Oxshott in what were once known as the stockbroker belts
of Cheshire and Surrey.

In both material and societal terms, England’s footballers have come a long
way from the mean streets and the angst-ridden inner-city areas in which
many of them grew up. But for all the talk of detachment, the talk among the
players on Monday night and yesterday morning, before